Chapter 2 Where can I feed another mouth

This precious rain lasted for most of the night before it stopped.

In the early morning, the wind and rain stopped, and the sun peeked out. It should be a sunny day today, and the air was filled with a long-lost humidity.

Li Chunhua, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yu family, got up early, hummed a song, wrapped her headscarf around her head swiftly, and then carried a bamboo basket to go collect grass for the pigs.

It had rained all night, so there must be a lot of pigweed growing. She had to go and get some to feed the pigs. The fields had been dry, so the pigweed was very thin. The pigs didn't eat enough, so they were also very thin and didn't gain much weight. It was very pitiful.

"Sister-in-law!"

Bai Xiaofeng, the second daughter-in-law of the Yu family, poked her head out from the kitchen, winked at Li Chunhua, made a gesture to keep quiet, and motioned her to come over.

Li Chunhua didn't think much about it and went into the kitchen as he was told: "Second brother's family, what's wrong?"

Bai Xiaofeng pulled Li Chunhua into the kitchen, lowered her voice, and said mysteriously: "Sister-in-law, do you know that mother brought a little girl back last night and said she wanted to raise her at home!"

Li Chunhua was shocked: "Second brother, you are really good at making up stories!"

The fields have been dry for three years, and we have to go to the river far away to get water. There are several young boys at home who are so hungry that they can kill me. I have to tighten my belt to feed myself, so how can I dare to raise a little girl?

Even if it rains now, it’s hard to say what the future will be like!

Raise? How to raise?

"I'm really not lying." Bai Xiaofeng curled her lips, "Last night, mother came to my room and took away some small clothes that Gui Ge'er couldn't wear."

She couldn't help but grumble again, "It's not like I can't have another baby. If I give birth to a third child, even if Gui Ge'er can't wear it, I can keep it for my third baby in the future..."

Li Chunhua didn't care about anything else. She just stared in amazement and asked, "Is it true? Did mother really pick up a little girl to raise at home?"

"You two, why are you mumbling about nothing so early in the morning?"

The eldest son of the Yu family, Yu Daniu, was carrying a hoe as he passed by the stove window. He saw his wife and the shrewd boy from the second son's family whispering to each other. He glared at them in dissatisfaction and shouted, "... Dad and mom will wake up soon, why are you still wasting time here? You haven't fed the pigs, and you haven't cooked the meal yet!"

Li Chunhua didn't care about her husband's cold face. She lowered her voice through the half-open window of the kitchen and asked him: "Master, do you know? My mother picked up a little girl to raise at home!"

This was the first time Yu Daniu had heard of this. He was stunned for a moment, frowned at first, and then straightened his face again: "If mother wants to raise the child, then raise him! What's the matter, you daughters-in-law, do you want to rebel? Hurry up and do your own work, you are all slacking off!"

After scolding Li Chunhua and Bai Xiaofeng and sending them off to work, Yu Daniu couldn't help but look towards the main house.

The Yu family's yard is not big, with a total of six adobe houses. The slightly larger one in the middle is the main house, where Old Man Yu and Mrs. Wei live.

In the end, Yu Daniu didn't ask anything and just carried his hoe to repair the adobe walls and fences that were bent crooked by the strong wind.

After a while, Mrs. Wei got up, wearing a gray shorts, and went straight to the kitchen.

Bai Xiaofeng was cooking wild vegetable porridge and said hurriedly, "Mom, the rain last night seeped in quite a bit, and a lot of the firewood got wet, so the cooking is a little slow..."

Mrs. Wei interrupted Bai Xiaofeng's explanation impatiently and asked, "We sold thirty eggs last time. How many eggs are left at home?"

Bai Xiaofeng said hurriedly, "I picked one from the chicken coop this morning, so there are seven in total."

Mrs. Wei frowned. "Seven?" She said firmly, "Cook all seven eggs later and give them to the children to nourish their bodies."

Bai Xiaofeng was overjoyed. Her eldest sister-in-law had given birth to two boys, she also had two boys in her family, and the third child had a boy who had just turned four in her family.

At least her two brothers can eat two eggs, it’s worth it!

Bai Xiaofeng said attentively: "Don't worry, mother. I will definitely take care of it. Brother Huai'er from my eldest brother's family likes to eat something with a softer texture. I will just cook it for a little longer and take it out..."

Mrs. Wei said "hmm" indifferently and left the kitchen.

When the Yu family had breakfast, the elm table in the main room, which Old Man Yu had specially built for him, was already crowded with people.

The Yu family was prosperous. Mrs. Wei gave birth to four sons. Excluding the youngest son who had not yet married, the first three sons gave her a total of five grandsons.

A family of more than ten people sat around a large table, having a lively gathering.

Because of the rain, the crops in the fields are guaranteed to have a good harvest this year, and water can be used more leniently in the future. Life will definitely be much more comfortable than before. Every member of the Yu family has a smile on their face.

Two large pots of wild vegetable porridge were placed on the table, with two plates of homemade pickled radish next to them.

What was different from usual was that next to the wild vegetable porridge, there was a large bowl filled with seven boiled eggs.

Although we have chickens and pigs at home, due to natural disasters and man-made disasters in recent years, the harvest has been poor and people can’t even get enough to eat, let alone chickens, pigs and other animals.

There were originally five chickens at home, but now only two are still laying eggs, and they occasionally lay an egg. Even so, the eggs that are occasionally laid are collected and sold together when the harvest is in season. The pigs raised at home are also skinny and refuse to gain weight no matter what.

Therefore, it is a rare thing for this egg to appear on the dinner table.

"Mom, you're so happy that it's raining. I've already cooked the eggs." Yu Erhu, the second son of the Yu family, smiled foolishly and reached out to touch the eggs. Bai Xiaofeng slapped her husband's hand away and rolled her eyes: "What are you doing? These are all the eggs we have at home. Mom told me to cook them for the kids."

Yu Erhu had a very good temper. He said "oh oh" twice and quickly withdrew his hand. He couldn't eat it, but the baby could. He was also very happy: "Baby, eat it, baby, eat it."

Mrs. Wei laughed, apparently in a good mood. She bent down and picked up someone from her side.

When everyone looked closely, they saw that the person in Grandma Wei's arms was a little girl they had never seen before!

The little girl was too short and was blocked by the table, so they were only watching her now!

However, this little girl was very pretty, with round almond-shaped eyes that seemed to be able to speak. However, this little girl was obviously malnourished, with sparse and yellow hair.

Xingxing became extremely nervous when she saw so many people staring at her. She tugged at her clothes and didn't know what to say.

When Mrs. Wei saw that everyone had seen Xingxing, she put the little girl on a stool between her and Old Man Yu.

The little girl was short to begin with, and even when she sat on a stool, only the top of her head was barely visible above the table.

"This, this is--" Yu Daniu stammered.

"I picked up this little girl from the rocky beach at the foot of the mountain yesterday." Mrs. Wei introduced her in an unquestionable tone. "This little girl is Yu Xingxing, and she will be raised in our home from now on."

The adults at the table were silent for a moment.

Let’s not talk about other trivial matters, but suddenly there is an extra mouth to feed at home? !

What to do with the already tight food supply? !

Li Chunhua had been thinking about this this morning. Seeing that it was just as the second son's wife said, her heart skipped a beat. Without thinking too much, she quickly said, "Mom, you know the situation at home this year. There were wars, locust plagues, earthquakes, and droughts. The land has been barren for several years. We have been eating stored food. Although it rained at night, it could only make the wheat in the field produce more pulp. Food is still tight, so how can we feed another mouth?"

Li Chunhua looked very embarrassed.

But Mrs. Wei got angry and slammed the table.

She didn't intend to bring up the matter of the Burning Heart Grass yet, and just said with a cold face: "Did I let you dig out food? Xingxing will be kept in my house from now on. How much food can a little person like her eat? I can keep her alive by eating less! If it really doesn't work, we will starve to death together!"

The four sons were all panicked: "Mom! How can we let you go hungry!"

"Mom, don't worry. Even if we don't eat anything, we can't miss a bite of yours!"

"Yes, yes, yes, how much food can this little girl eat? If mother wants to raise her, then raise her!"

"Yes, that's right!"

The four sons were all very filial and kept encouraging each other.

Yu Daniu, the eldest son of the Yu family, glared at his wife angrily - forcing his mother to say such heart-wrenching words is simply unfilial!

Li Chunhua felt very aggrieved.

She wasn't doing this for herself, let's not talk about adults for now, the two boys in their room were still growing taller! There wasn't enough food in the room, and the two boys looked bad, how sad would she feel as a mother?

Now there is one more mouth to feed in the family. As the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yu family, can't she say a few words?

——But it was obvious from the look on her face that her mother-in-law had made up her mind and would not listen to anyone. Li Chunhua felt very bitter.

Old Man Yu coughed and tried to smooth things over with the dignity of a head of the family: "Why are you all standing there? Hurry up and serve the rice, serve the rice!"

Bai Xiaofeng, the second daughter-in-law of the Yu family, stood up hurriedly and took a spoon to serve rice to everyone. Each person had a bowl of wild vegetable porridge, and after they finished eating, they could have another half bowl at most.

Bai Xiaofeng distributed the rice among the group and gave some to Xingxing.

Bai Xiaofeng observed Mrs. Wei's expression, swallowed her saliva, and said with a smile: "Xingxing - is that your name? Auntie will serve you half a bowl, you eat first?"